


Cat Scratch Fever (it's nothin' dangerous, I feel no pain)

by CharlieJay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Pet Store, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 16:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18608422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieJay/pseuds/CharlieJay
Summary: Fred is lonely. Hermione works as a vet tech at an adoption centre.Somehow he ends up coming home with more than he expected.(fluffy cat-centred fic)





	Cat Scratch Fever (it's nothin' dangerous, I feel no pain)

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy! This has been sitting on my laptop for ages now.  
> Something about professor!Fred gets me excited, so I figured there was nothing wrong with a taste.  
> And try to convince me Hermione wouldn't make the best vet tech.

 

            No matter how many times George bothered him, he refused to admit the truth.

            Fred was _not_ lonely.

            He was busy.

            After all, he was an actual professor. Desk, tie, chalkboard – everything.

            Five classes a week, two tutorials, one seminar, plus his actual work.

            Besides…Fred had friends and… _friends_. He wasn’t lonely in the slightest when it came to a social life. He made sure to keep a full calendar, even though all he truly wanted to do was curl up in front of a documentary with a beer and a bowl full of popcorn.

            “You haven’t had anyone in over four years, Fred. Isn’t it time to start looking again? I know that Katie was the absolute worst but you’re so lonely now and I really just think that you could be as happy as Oliver and I. And maybe she’s out there. I’m just getting worried. You depend on people depending on you.”

            There’s finally a moment of silence when George catches her breath.

            It was years of Fred worrying about George. It was his duty as twin brother.

            George and Oliver continued with the family joke shop so that Fred could go back to school.

            But now George was engaged to Oliver and together they had two dogs.

            And Fred had no one.

            Fuck.

            “You just need someone to come home to at night.” George recognizes the line she has crossed. Straightening her back, she takes a sip from her mug of coffee. It strikes her then. With flashing eyes, George reaches out to grab his free hand. “Some-thing! You just need something to come home to at night. Fred, you should adopt a dog. Just like Oliver and I. ”

            This makes Fred crinkle his nose in hesitation. Dogs were a lot of work, and based on his schedule, he wouldn’t be able to provide the company that the poor mutt desired.

            “Fine George, I’ll adopt a _cat._ More solitary. Can take care of itself. Will guard the apartment from mice when I’m not home.”

            Fred detects a definite eye roll from George, well aware of his displeasure towards the creatures. But he sighed loudly in agreement and that’s when Fred began his research.

 

* * *

 

            A week and a half later Fred parked his car outside of Chancellor’s Chances.

            It was the best rated animal shelter in the area, and after extensive reading, Fred felt confident in his choice. With George’s seal of approval, Fred purchased all the essential’s a cat could ever need. So there was no going back now.

            There was a ring of a bell as Fred entered the building, but no one was at the front desk. Without anyone to invite him in, Fred opened the visitation door on his own and began his hunt. Immediately he could spot the _Cat Corner_ in the back, which indicated where all the adoptable cats were.  It was a hollowing scene with pets lining the rows. The sounds and smells were a jumbled mess to Fred’s senses, but as far as he could tell, most of the animals were quite content. Reaching the back corner, Fred stops dead in his tracks.

            Sitting in the middle of the floor of the cat area was a young woman.

            She had about six kittens crawling all over her. One was on her shoulder, another perched on top of her head, two were in her lap and one was making an escape from her grasps as she tried to take a picture of it. Finally, the last kitten popped it’s head out from behind her to take a running start in attack of Fred’s shoelace.

            “Hi.”

            Her head pops up as she breaks from concentration. Large bright eyes looked up at his, framed by deep bags of tiredness. Strands of her hair escaped her braids as she shooed away her little friends in a hurry. The t-shirt she was wearing had the Chancellor’s Chances logo on it and a nametag that had smiley faces and flowers doodled all over it.

            “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry that I didn’t hear you come in. My receptionist has the day off and I get distracted in here and my name is Hermione. I’m the vet tech.”

            If her rambling didn’t sell Fred, that smile did.

            “I’m Fred, and I’m looking to adopt a cat.”

            If possible, her smile grew.

            “I’ve got one in mind, if you don’t mind?” Hermione cocked her head sideways, giving Fred the impression that she was reading him and matching him with cat candidates. “I’ve got a talent for these kinds of things.”

            “I trust your judgement, doc.”

            Fred begins to explain his reasoning for getting a cat to Hermione as she took him deeper into the Cat Corner. She giggled at his jokes, even the bad ones, and replied intelligently.

            “Meet Ruby.” Hermione comes to a stop in front of a cage. “She’s perfect for a young professor who needs to get his little sister off his back for being socially weird.”

            “Okay, I did not say that I was socially-. Oh.”

            Fred is cut off by Hermione shoving a cat into his arms.

            Ruby had a shiny black coat and was missing half an ear. She wasn’t young, but she wasn’t old by any means. Her back arched in his arms, letting a paw flop outwards in an attempt to get back to Hermione.

            “Super friendly. Super independent.” Hermione gives the cat what she’s looking for, a little rub under her chin. “She’s been in the shelter for almost a year now. I simply don’t understand why, Ruby is one of the best girls around.”

            There’s a pause.

            Ruby started to purr.

            “I’ll take her.”

 

* * *

            

            “Can’t believe you went through with it, bro.” George had grown past his displeasure for cats the moment she saw Fred cuddled up on his old leather couch with Ruby sprawled across the back to bask in the sun. A book in his hands and a ruby-red collar around her neck, George knew they had become family. Now he was rolling a shaky toy across his hardwood floors as Ruby fetched. “You are officially a cat-mom.”

            “I’m hardly a cat mom,” Fred pushed up an eyebrow in resistance. The comment doesn’t stop him from adding two ice cubes to Ruby’s water dish. George snorts. “What? She prefers drinking it cold! I’ll be damned if this cat doesn’t have the best nine lives ever.”

 

* * *

 

            About a month in of spending time with his new roommate made Fred realize something. He was good at this. And that he could probably get another cat.

            “Two cats? Dude.” Ginny lets the idea sit on her lips while popping the cap off of her third beer. “One, is like, fine. But two? Why on earth would you want two cats?” A taste of the liquor makes her shoulders relax. “Oh. It’s about the pet nurse?”

            Fred hides his embarrassment by finishing his own beer.

            “There’s got to be other ways of getting her number rather than adopting a second cat. I get it, you had a connection, or whatever, but as your sister, I’ve got to raise the warning flag. Pet nurse may love pets, but she doesn’t love you. She probably doesn’t even remember your name.”

            Now Fred has to prove Ginny wrong.

 

* * *

 

            The shelter is a bit quieter this time around.

            It was hopefully a good sign.

            And at the front desk was another young woman wearing the Chancellor’s Chances t-shirt. She was tapping her pen against her lip as she stared at the computer screen, with a phone pressed in between her ear and shoulder.

            “No, Ms. McGonagall, we can’t get the raccoon out of your chimney. You’ve got to stop calling us and use a real wildlife control agency. Yes, Ms. McGonagall, I’ll give your love to Hermione. We’ll stop by for lunch on Saturday. See you then.” The receptionist’s stiff grin was easily one of the funniest things Fred had seen all day. The stress of a client also being a neighbour was overwhelming. Finally, she releases the phone call and nods in his direction. “Hi there, welcome to Chancellor’s Chances. I’m Pansy. How can I help you?”

            Fred can feel his smile falter.

            He hadn’t considered the possibility of Hermione not being available.

            “Um, I need another cat.”

            Pansy purses her lips, and a beat passes as she expressed concern.

            Suddenly a bird lands on her shoulder and nuzzles against her short, dark hair.

            “You know. A friend for my other cat.”

            Her facial stance reminded that there was a slight chance that Fred wouldn’t be allowed back into Chancellor’s Chances after this.

            A backdoor swings open, and both Fred and Pansy are relieved to see Hermione saunter into the officer with a rabbit in her arms.

            “Oh hi Fred!”

            Pansy puts her hand up, stopping Fred before he could open his mouth. Her hand flipped open into a questioning motion, and shakes her head quickly out of confusion. Hermione simply gives her double thumbs up and hands her the rabbit.

            “Now, you know that we don’t do returns, right? I hope that Ruby is doing well?” Hermione lets the conversation flow, and leans over the desk area to rest her body. “Queen of the castle, I’m assuming.”

            “She needs a friend.” Fred finally has the courage to speak again.

            “Obviously.” Hermione laughs, taking the time to pull her hair up into a knot and slip out of her lab coat. “Let’s go find her a buddy, shall we?”

           

* * *

 

            That’s how he came home with Ghost.

            An old, fat white cat with a tail dipped in black.

            Hermione had broken Fred’s heart with Ghost’s story. Too old to be adopted.

            “You think you can handle two cats? I thought Ruby was just a way to get your sister off your back.” Hermione shoved Pansy aside to personally do Fred’s paperwork.

            Fred signs where she points. “Ruby was the one to show me the real me – crazy cat man me. Ruby and Ghost are probably just the beginning. You’ll be seeing me around quite a bit I can imagine.” He spoke as if it were a joke, but there’s a weird tense feeling in his back that says he was dead serious.

            “Crazy cat man, hey? That many cats can be challenging, you may need help. And to really get you on the right path, I’ll give you my number. That way we can chat about any future cats that will be joining the batch.”

            She was good.

            “Besides, I need updates on my lil Ruby and my goober Ghost.” Hermione drops the pen with enthusiasm. Pansy coughs for attention, mentioning that Hermione had a delivery coming in an hour and she still had to do the feedings since the animal care intern wasn’t there.

            With that she was gone.

 

* * *

  

**To Hermione**

            were ghost and ruby friends before??

 

**From Hermione**

cage neighbours! he was underneath her in the corner!!

 

**To Hermione**

clearly hahah

            _picture attachment_

 

            Fred held his breath when he pressed send.

            The two cats had decided to take naps on one of his bookshelves, with Ruby on the shelf above. Ghost was a little too fat to just lay comfortably on the shelf and promptly shoved half a dozen books off to make room.

 

**From Hermione**

            so you’re a lord of the rings nerd? mr. I-like-documentaries.

            nice collectors addition there beside rubes

 

**To Hermione**

            I’m not allowed to have guilty pleasures?

 

**From Hermione**

            I can think of a few more things that would be more pleasurable (; haha besides I’ve never seen them

 

            Fred’s heart stops.

 

* * *

 

            It’s not like he could have seen it coming.

            Ruby and Ghost just kind of took over his apartment (and life) without asking.

            Four months of texting and flirting and _dying_ over Hermione had torn Fred in so many directions that he knew he had to take a stand. It was time to ask her out. Do or die, in a way.

            “I need one more. Just to see her once so I can make my move.”

            Ginny, Oliver and George groan.

            “Three cats, dude?” Ginny let’s Ghost hope onto her lap, instinctively thumbing between his ears. “Isn’t that a bit much just for a girl?”

            George scooped Ruby up and gave her a squeeze. “Yeah, Fred, even I’ve got to admit that’s a little more crazy than usual. Why don’t you just call her and ask her out?”

            Oliver, the only friend without a furry ball of love giving him attention stayed quiet in a disgruntled fashion until George hands Ruby over. “If the man thinks that one more cat will help him win her heart, then let him have the cat. Besides, if things don’t go well, having three cats to cry with is better than two.”

 

* * *

 

            The moment he walks into the shelter he can hear Pansy laughing with glee.

            “Ooooooh boy, you are so done. You are done.”

            There’s no time for him to respond because Hermione has just walked in behind him, a box in her arms. Her eyes were red from tears, her hands shaking with anger. Pansy’s joyful demeaner shifts to match her friend’s, but sends Fred a meaningful look. pansy was right. He was so done.

            “It’s a cruel world, isn’t it?” Hermione rubs a hand under her nose and looks up to dry her eyes. Her voice catches in her throat. “I mean, people are the worst.”

            Fred finds himself agreeing without noticing.

            “We got a call from a local. Someone had thrown a bag of kittens out of their car into a ditch. By the time Hermione could get there, none of them had made it.” Pansy fills Fred in, standing up to show her support. “Well, that’s what we thought at first.”

            Hermione grimaces, glancing into the box.

            The slightest mewl emits from a blanket fort.

            “I found Kingston a few feet away from the bag. He’s in perfect health. He’s a miracle kitten.” She pulls back some of the blankets so that Fred could take a look at the tiny cat. And tiny was the best word to describe it. About the size of his palm, and the colour of freckled Ginnyger. Kingston was a prince. He was do done. “I hope that we find him a home soon.”

            “Done.” Fred can see Pansy spin in her chair quietly, letting out a silent cackle. Hermione shrieked out of pure joy. She burst into explanation of how kittens had different care than adult cats and that he would need to take notes because if he didn’t treat Kingston right than so help her god- The panic on Fred’s face made Hermione freeze. The break was enough for Fred. “How about we talk about it over coffee? After you’re finished here.”

            “You can pick her up at four.” Pansy pencils in the date into Hermione’s calendar.

            And so he did.


End file.
